The Jeepster Commando Is a Classic That's Up for Any Adventure

Back in the 1960s, the Jeepster Commando was built to give Kaiser Jeep a competitor that could take on the likes of the Toyota Land Cruiser and the International Scout. It was successful enough that even when AMC bought Kaiser, the Jeepster Commando lived on.

You don't see a lot of them on the roads these days, but as a kid, Sam Fankuchen was fascinated by Commandos. That fascination stuck with him, and as an adult, he was finally able to buy one.

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"Sometimes, there are things that are a little bit unorthodox, or a little bit extraordinary in one way or another, that deserve to have their story told so people remember they exist," says Fankuchen. "This [Commando] gets mistaken way more often for something else than identified for what it is."

Finding parts can be a challenge, but he doesn't let that stop him from taking his Commando pretty much everywhere.

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"The gauges are not stock, but apart from that, nothing was added. In fact, things were subtracted," he says. "I stripped out the all the interior and put bed liner in front to rear so I could just hose it out and not worry."

With an upgraded Dauntless V6 and not much else left on the car to worry about, Fankuchen's Commando is simple, robust, and more than capable of going on off-road adventures. But it's not just a weekend car. It's also his daily driver.

"It was harder, more expensive, less safe to drive this thing every day, but I did it because I was committed to the project," he says.

Fankuchen also hopes that seeing his Commando still on the road will be able to give another little kid the same sense of wonder that he had.

"I did it so that one day I'd be able to introduce my kids to cars like this. The next time a little kid sees this car, and it makes him really happy, I know it maybe ignited a sense of understanding or appreciation for math and science and mechanical systems, which I think are going to be really important for people to continue to care about."